Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

The Minister has pointed to the general criteria that apply to appointments to State bodies and boards. Does he agree that the CSO report on gender representation shows that there is an appalling record, with only 34% of appointees to State boards being female? Does he have proposals to address that problem?

Regarding greater transparency in appointments, I agree with the Minister that membership of a political party should not disqualify a person. However, I certainly do not believe it should be the only criterion by which a person qualifies, which is often the case, as we have seen in the course of the Government and previous ones. I appreciate the Minister's aspiration for a role for Oireachtas committees on that basis. However, for this to happen would we not require some form of legislative initiative to ensure it would be a mandatory requirement for people to appear before an Oireachtas committee in order to be screened thoroughly?

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